diff --git a/build/lib/release.sh b/build/lib/release.sh
index afacffbdce..870451601f 100644
--- a/build/lib/release.sh
+++ b/build/lib/release.sh
@@ -28,11 +28,7 @@ readonly RELEASE_STAGE="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_ROOT}/release-stage"
 readonly RELEASE_TARS="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_ROOT}/release-tars"
 readonly RELEASE_IMAGES="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_ROOT}/release-images"
 
-KUBE_BUILD_HYPERKUBE=${KUBE_BUILD_HYPERKUBE:-n}
-if [[ -n "${KUBE_DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG-}" && -n "${KUBE_DOCKER_REGISTRY-}" ]]; then
-  # retain legacy behavior of automatically building hyperkube during releases
-  KUBE_BUILD_HYPERKUBE=y
-fi
+KUBE_BUILD_HYPERKUBE=${KUBE_BUILD_HYPERKUBE:-y}
 
 # Validate a ci version
 #